Author's Notes: So… I'm sitting here with my hot chocolate, freezing my arse off (well, not literally) and wondering, where the HELL is my NejiSaku inner fan girl? She went on holiday apparently. I hate being ignored. *sighs* And I'm getting frustrated writing SasuSaku. Both are good enough reasons for a change. I'll get back to it, but right now, it's NejiSaku time. ;)
Anyway, my motivation for this series of one-shots is to form all the light hearted NejiSaku ideas rattling around in my head into something cohesive. These one-shots are romance but the second genre is malleable. I won't be putting angst or tragedy on them though: just remember, it's all in good fun. ;) Every updated "chapter" will have its own title and summary anyway. Heads up. :) Read, love, and review! ^_^

–
Heartbeat

Synopsis: It was a power she'd never imagined: a skill not to be taken lightly. And when Sakura heard his heartbeat through his shirt, she knew this was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Neji was more nervous in her presence than he let on, and she fully intended on taking advantage of him… uh, that.
–

"That is so hot!" Ino Yamanaka squealed loudly. "Do me! Do me!"

There had been a price for everything she loved in her life. She'd endured ridicule to figure out what was the right kind of attention and struggled for years to become the respected Kunoichi she was today. But there was one thing Sakura Haruno had yet to overcome on her chosen path: loud, obnoxious blondes. She rolled her eyes at her best friend and repressed the shudder she always felt coming when Ino got too excited. "Do you have any idea how that sounded, coming out of your mouth?"

They were in a crowded restaurant, enjoying their respective lunch hours, and every ninja and civilian in the area had just stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at them. And with Ino's reputation, Sakura could see their suspicious (and in some cases salivating interest – Genma Shiranui for one) minds musing on the implications of the blonde's words.

"Ino!" She snapped hoarsely, when her friend just ignored the attention she'd brought down on them both. "Keep your voice down."

"Oh, relax forehead." Ino spun around on her chair and addressed the other customers. "I wasn't talking about sex."

'Why am I not surprised people thought that was what she meant? The girl has no shame.'

In all the years she'd known Ino, Sakura had never seen her hold back what she was thinking. She heatedly told her friend to kindly shut her mouth, and once they were done with their lunch, the blonde made her promise to show her the new technique she'd learnt after they were both done for the day. She wasn't really asking, as Ino laced her words with a hidden threat to embarrass Sakura in public with a worse spectacle than she'd just endured.

Ino was very interested in what Sakura had picked up.

It was no big deal really, but it opened up a world of possibilities. She'd first felt it happen while sitting next to Naruto. Her fear and confusion was quickly dismissed when she realised he'd been reacting to the approaching figure of Hinata Hyuuga. His heart rate had increased with every step Hinata took toward them and if she hadn't been fixated on the thrumming of his pulse, not to mention its affect on his chakra system, from a purely medical point of view, Sakura might've gone deaf at the sound. She was glad that the idiot had finally noticed Hinata, but it had taken the pinkette hours to get rid of her headache after that.

Lady Tsunade had been quite interested in Sakura's idea of decreasing diagnosis time by learning how to detect a patient's heart rate before all the instruments could be hooked up to them, or her chakra inserted into their system. Sometimes, though not often really, the invading chakra of a medic can hasten some injuries – especially those connect to the cardiovascular and pulmonary organs (heart, veins, and lungs). On top of that, in the heat of battle, she didn't always have the chakra to waste on a diagnosis. A medic's duty was to stay out of the fight and heal as needed, but it didn't always go according to plan.

It turned from a strange little side project to a weekend of educational fun. Sakura had picked it up rather quickly and experimented on her mentor after a few rounds of sake (not to mention Shizune when the brunette woman was talking to or about Genma Shiranui).

Naruto had been her first test outside of controlled conditions.

'And then I just had to go blab to Ino!'

Now the girl wanted in and there was no wrangling this mare once she decided to buck. She was especially interested in what had happened shortly after Sakura's run-in with the Naruto/Hinata marching band. Sakura hadn't thought about anyone romantically since Sasuke, but there was a certain brown haired Hyuuga who had noticed her at least.

– Heartbeat –

It was an hour after leaving Naruto and Hinata… alone, in the woods (she mentally shivered at that), that Sakura decided to visit the Konoha Library, where at least there would be some peace and quiet. She had thought Neji would be more comfortable in the massive library in the Hyuuga estate, but there he was, standing next to an aisle of medical volumes, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared apathetically at the words on their spines.

Sakura waved as she walked toward him. "Hiya Neji!"

And of course, he offered his usual: a formal greeting complete with the correct suffix and even voice she knew. It pissed her off, but more than anything, she wanted him to loosen up. Sakura had the perfect thing, and winked at him seductively.

"Aaww, Neji-pyon!" she teased, giggling softly. "It's okay to admit you're excited to see me." [pyon: slang for calling someone their sweetie]

And then… there it was... she couldn't believe it. The stoic ice cube was normally so calm and collected. But Sakura was counting his heartbeat and was, for the first time since learning this technique, blushing at the revelation it had brought her.

He hadn't moved an inch as she walked toward him. He didn't bat an eyelid as she calmly asked him to move out of the way. He didn't respond other than to shift slightly, indicating there was enough room and he wasn't moving – he did look quite comfortable when stiff as a board. Sakura was just trying to get past him to grab the medical text book behind him on the shelf when she sensed it: his heart started hammering in his chest and it didn't stop until she was out of his personal space. His face and stance showed nothing of his accelerated heart rate however, and a part of her wondered if it had actually happened. His voice as he said his formal goodbyes before he left gave nothing away.

Sakura thought she had been imagining things until it happened again. Later that day, she'd visited the Hyuuga estate to ask Hiashi if she could sneak a peek at some of his medical volumes like he'd promised via Tsunade four months ago. Neji was the only one in Hiashi's office, and calmly told her the old man was off training with Hanabi and didn't want to be disturbed… the slippery arse. So Sakura was demanding that Neji talk some sense into his uncle while standing a foot away from him, pointing a finger at his eyes (those… mesmerising… gorgeous… eyes…), when the beating interrupted her tirade.

Neji half frowned at her abrupt halt and his eyes widened slightly at the blush lining her cheeks.

'Fuck this,' she snapped at herself.

Sakura did the only thing she could think of – she pulled him into a tight hug and whispered "god, you're hot" before making a mad dash for freedom.

– Heartbeat –

Needless to say, Sakura was embarrassed. But it also offered up the perfect opportunity for giving her love life a kick in the arse. Ino was still badgering her about teaching her the technique but Sakura couldn't face her right now. She wanted to see how far she could take this (whatever this was) with Neji… Ino would forgive her if she found out why she was skipping out on her… right? Tsunade was out on one of her binges and Sakura had a messenger "summon" Neji. She felt no qualms about pretending he'd been summoned by the Hokage and then thoroughly seducing him.

The room was empty when Neji knocked, was bade to enter and did as he was told. "Lady Hokage, what–"

"Neji-pyon," Sakura whispered from behind him, closing the door. "You and I have some unfinished business, starting with this."

Neji felt his body go still… the knowing look on her face gave her away: she knew how he felt. But how? She was pulling on his shirt – the Hyuuga Kimono he'd adjusted for his missions as a part of Team Guy. He swallowed heavily, realising the only article of clothing Sakura was wearing was a pink satin robe.

"W-where is the Hokage?" He asked, getting a strange feeling about this.

'Okay,' she thought, clenching her fists tightly. 'Let's bite this in the butt, shall we?'

Sakura ignored his question and pouted. "Wouldn't you rather kiss me, Neji-pyon?"

She smirked as he gripped her tighter, taking the bait. She closed her eyes, heat pooling in her stomach as Neji kissed her, pushing her roughly against the wall.

Fifteen minutes later, an angry blonde stormed into the Hokage's office, and Sakura started, terrified of being caught by her shishou. The woman was supposed to be out for the rest of the afternoon! But it wasn't Lady Tsunade who'd almost knocked the door off its hinges.

"FOREHEAD! I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO BE HUNG AND QUARTERED! YOU'RE SO–"

Ino stopped midsentence, taking in the scene before her: Sakura and Neji, flustered, wrapped up in each other's arms, and naked on Tsunade's desk. A quirk of her lips told the pinkette what was coming next…

"YEAH-HEH! SAKURA FINALLY GOT LAID!"

X X X

A/N: Well, hopefully that was at least lightly funny. I'll let you guys be the judge of that – funny, weird, boring…? Eh. Anyway, originally, these one-shots were going to all be romance/humour, but since I've started my NejiSaku multichapter, Fallen, I haven't given them any attention. Also, I had some suggestions for the next chapter, but if you'll hit that 'next' button, you'll see it's no longer the case. This will now be a side project – any time, until I decide to mark this "complete", I will be updating merely as something comes to me.

That said, this is about having fun with NejiSaku, so please read and review! n_n